Inhibition of prostaglandin biosynthesis by sulphasalazine and its metabolites

Sulphasalazine (SZ) inhibits prostaglandin (PG) biosynthesis $\text{in vitro}$ with a potency comparable to that of aceylsalicylate. The metabolites of SZ, sulphapyridine and 5-aminosalicylic acid, were of considerably lower potency as inhibitors of PG biosynthesis in the synthetase preparations used. The inhibition of prostaglandin production by SZ could at least partly account for the clinical utility of sulphasalazine in ulcerative colitis. Sulphapyridine may help to maintain inhibitory concentrations of SZ by restraining bacterial breakdown of the active drug.     

Affinity chromatography on immobilised nucleotides. Some applications to the purification of thermophilic dehydrogenases and kinases.

The effect of pH and temperature on the capacity and binding of Bacillus stearothermophilus, alcohol dehydrogenase and phosphofructokinase to N6-(6-aminohexyl)-5'-AMP-Sepharose has been examined. Specific elution from the substituted AMP-Sepharose was examined using a variety of cofactors, fragments of cofactors and substrates. A purification scheme for each enzyme on the substituted AMP-Sepharose using nucleotides and gradients of pH and salt is presented. Interestingly, elevated temperature increased the affinity of both enzymes for N6-(6-aminohexyl)-5'-AMP-Sepharose, however, the Michaelis constant for nucleotide determined at various temperatures remained constant. The effect of pH and salt concentration on the binding of B. stearothermophilus glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase to 6-aminohexanoyl-NAD+-Sepharose was also examined; raising the pH above 7.5 lowers the capacity of the matrix and the effect of a range of ammonium sulphate concentrations on the adsorption of the enzyme was examined. A specific purification of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from partially purified extracts of this organism was achieved.     

A stochastic model for facilitated transport of oxygen through tissue slices

Longmuir and co-workers have reported that respiration of certain tissue slices is approximated by Michaelis-Menten kinetics. From this and other experimental findings, Longmuir proposed that a carrier is involved in tissue oxygen transport. Gold developed a deterministic model to examine this hypothesis. This report presents a stochastic model for a fixed site carrier in a more general framework that includes the stochastic counter-part to Gold's deterministic model as a special case. The kinetics of tissue oxygen consumption predicted by the model are examined for various cases.     

Determination of the 3'' terminal nucleotide of DNA fragments

A new method for determining the 3'-terminal nucleotide of a DNA strand is presented. Use is made of the fact that one (and only one) 2',3'-dideoxyribonucleotide can be added to the 3'-end of a DNA fragment with calf thymus terminal transferase. Addition of more than one nucleotide analog per strand is impossible due to the absence of a 3'-terminal hydroxyl group. If the terminatind dideoxyribonucleotide contains an (alpha 32p) label, the resulting 3'-blocked strand can be digested by "nearest neighbor" techniques and the original 3'-endgroup determined. Picomole quantities of DNA strands can be labeled and the 3'-end determined.     

Chlormethiazole in treatment of status epilepticus.

Chlormethiazole (Heminevrin) was successful in controlling fits in seven out of nine episodes of intractable status epilepticus. It was administered as a constant intravenous injection at rates of up to 0.7g/h. No serious side effects were encountered, and the drug deserves wider recognition as a useful therapeutic agent in the management of status epilepticus.     

A possible cause of non-disjunction of additional chromosome 21 in Down syndrome

Summary A possible cause of non-disjunction of chromosome 21 in Down Syndromes has been cytogenetically evaluated by examining the parents by Ag-staining technique. In all the cases studied so far, the contributing parents have active ribosomal cistrons on both chromosomes 21 i.e. both chromosomes are stained positively by silver staining. These results show that the active NORs might play an essential role in meiotic non-disjunction. Furthermore, the preliminary results demonstrate that the acrocentric associations of homologous and non-homologous nature involving chromosome 21 are the most frequent in the contributing parent which may further indicate the role of multiple cellular factors affecting the associations in promoting the non-disjunction in addition to active NORs. The possible mechanisms regarding the non-disjunction of chromosome 21 have been described.Presented at the 34th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, Norfolk, VA, USA     

ULTRASTRUCTURE,DEVELOPMENT AND CYTOPLASMIC ROTATION OF SETA-BEARING CELLS OF COLEOCHAETE SCUTATA (CHLOROPHYCEAE)1

Part of the cytoplasm, which always contains the plastid, of seta-bearing cells of Coleochaete scutata Bréb. rotates clockwise about the base of the seta. Many golgi bodies, vesicles and much endoplasmic reticulum occupy the bridges between the rotating central core of cytoplasm and the stationary peripheral layer of these cells. The setae, which grow from their base, are devoid of organelles other than vesicles and elongate mitochondria. At irregular intervals along the thin seta wall are annular thickenings containing callose. Microtubules which encircle the base of the seta disappear on treatment with colchicine. This drug had no effect on the speed of rotational streaming or the growth rate of existing hairs but did inhibit the development of new setae. Cytochalasin B slowed, but did not stop, streaming after 3 h exposure. However caffeine, but not EDTA, EGTA or the Ca ionophore A23187, reversibly inhibited cyclosis. The mechanism of cytoplasmic rotation is discussed in the light of these drug treatments and the presence of actin in the alga.